Hand Drummer Layne Redmond steers this haunting seven song CD through mystical territories with music that conjures visions of long forgotten rituals and distant cultures. Redmond, a former student of Glen Velez, combines percussion instruments such as windwands, tambourines, kalimbas, and bodhrans with flutes, violins, singing and spoken words to create a dramatic textural landscape on Since the Beginning. Highlights include Redmond’s harmonic singing on “Breath of the Sun” where she holds a fundamental pitch, and controls and amplifies the note’s inherent series of overtones by manipulating her mouth. The drumming by Redmond and her women’s drumming ensemble is precise and articulate. Since the Beginning is about how people can work and play together, not about blowing chops. Sit back, close your eyes, and drift away.

Andy Doerschuck – August ‘93

Layne Redmond‘s first CD recorded in 1994,

Remixed in Brazil in 2011 Fall 2012 Release

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF RECORDS

Surpassing her work with frame drum master Glen Velez, Redmond leads a group of softhand percussionists in ritualistic pieces on her powerful debut. Sacred instruments are gracefully employed: wind chimes, Tibetan singing bowls, and subtle frame drumming. Indian Classical master musicians, bamboo flutist Steve Gorn, and Vicki Richards enrich the work. But the piece de resistance is the eerie, candle-flickering Indian vocals of Amitava Chatterjee on “Breath of the Sun.” Dee Dee Finney – Summer ‘93

Inspired over a decade ago by her introduction to the frame drum to which she is now dedicated, Layne has gathered a group of mostly women together to revive the ancient Mediterranean/North African/Middle Eastern tradition of women's ceremonial drumming among goddess worshipping societies. Her compositions, and their arrangements are pure genius; the instruments speak in torrents of rhythm and meaning, communicating ancient stories which will stir remembrances in the listener. This album is simply the most honest and respectful recording of women's ritual music we've ever listened to, not to be missed. Highly recommended!'94

Reviving the ancient Mediterranean traditions of womens ceremonial drumming and ritual celebration, Redmond and her Mob of Angels play a whole variety of frame drums along with Tibetan singing bowls and the occasional flute. The result is a distinctively feminine sense of the drum which is ancient and powerful. The recording sweeps the listener along through seven aural soundscapes which, though many times reminiscent of the New Age style recordings, convey a much more authentic sense of wonder. This is probably due to the earthy nature of the drums and the welcome lack of synthesizers. An unusual and graceful entry into this drumming collections.

Lahri Bond - Feb/March ’94

Layne Redmond and the Mob of Angels provide a startlingly fresh take on an ancient art. Created by Layne to resuscitate the Mediterranean heritage of women’s ceremonial drumming and celebratory ritual, Mob of Angels travels a time band arcing the Jurassic and the distant future, as well as Spaceship Earth and galaxies far, far away. The music is at once primeval, universal and cosmic. Indeed, one senses bounce-backs from Ptolemy’s and Kepler’s music of the spheres. Voices and instruments shift with kaleidoscopic abandon. In “Uma,” Layne’s frame drum articulates the ebb and flow of a chorus of five female voices while buoying the flights of violinist Vicki Richards and flutist Steve Gorn. In the extended, trancelike “Elements,” one comes to appreciate the claim that the ecstatic rites of ancient women drummers did indeed constitute a “technology” for directly synchronizing the mind-body complex and accessing higher levels of awareness. Layne and the Mob of Angels are to be lauded for a labor of transcendent love and compelling aesthetic appeal. Chuck Berg – Nov. ‘93